Anyone who knows me is aware of my love affair with scarves. As in I own way too many and am powerless to resist their call. I even hike wearing a scarf ( ok, a bandana, really ). They instantly up the degree of artsiness in any outfit. These hand painted and embroidered scarves by Naomi Clark on Grey Area are insanely gorgeous, wearable works of art!

Artists and designers have been inspiring each other for centuries. Whether we realize it or not, much of the clothes we wear, jewelry we sport and objects we use are a result of the symbiosis between art and design. And I for one, love to celebrate such connections! For this first feature in the new Artsy Fodder series, let’s have some fun with artfully inspired jewelry designs. These pieces may not have directly influenced each other, but there is an unmistakable resemblance.

Art…

Friday Night 27848 by John Duckworth

Bejewelled…

Kate Spade, City Lights Idiom Bangle

Art…

Oceanic Series by Thomas Hager

Bejewelled…

Anthropologie, Jumbled Loops Necklace

Art…

Untitled by Amy Pleasant

Bejewelled…

Paige Novick, White Howlite Cuff

Art…

Yin and Yang by Jennifer Bain

Bejewelled…

Jill Schwartz, Mosaic Pin

Art…

Screen ( Barn Owl ) by Kevin Appel

Bejewelled…

M. Missoni, Chain Necklace

Do find yourself buying pretty baubles that remind you of your favorite artwork? Take a look inside your own closet or jewelry box and I’ll bet you’ll see some similarities!

Confession: I love fashion magazines. The beautiful imagery of gorgeous people wearing couture, sporting watches and handbags that cost as much as a car, is like crack to me. Maybe in the intellectual artsy realm I am not supposed to taken with such trivial and superficial fluff, but I just can’t help it. Nor can NYC artist Hooper Turner.

High Noon, oil on canvas, 18x24 ( via Skidmore Contemporary )

Turner, whose latest exhibition, Glamorama, opens at Skidmore Contemporary in Santa Montica, CA this Saturday, chooses to focus his fascination and truly study these portraits of consumerism, painting them and in turn, seeing them with new eyes.

The Crusaders, oil on canvas, 30x40

Turner doesn’t take the imagery out of context, like many might, instead the images are unabashedly commercial, some complete with the text juxtaposed over the image, just as it would be in a magazine. It is in this honest confrontation of our voluntary manipulation by advertisers, creative directors, etc., that his work finds its most poignant power.

If you were around for artsyFASHIONWeek, you may already have an inkling of my interest in the relationship between fashion and art. Lately, I’ve been thinking more and more about the influence of the fashion industry, what the clothes we wear say about our personalities and just the general psychology behind the fueling of the fashion industry and the choices that we make. Toronto artist Amanda Clyne examines the influence of fashion upon our psyche in her paintings, in which she “examines the image as a mirror of our desires”.

Double Take ( diptych ), oil on canvas, 68x49

Amanda finds inspiration for her work in the pages of art history books and fashion magazines, seeing similarities between fashion photography of today and historical portraits of the elite. They both carry with them the same fascination with beauty, wealth and transformation.. “images intended to fuel a spectacle of desire with feigned promises of intimacy and truth”. ( Amanda Clyne via her website )

Looking Back, oil on canvas, 55x39

The artist fragments her subject, creating an elusive illusion, much like a hall of mirrors. Our eyes deceive us, all isn’t as it would seem. An important point to remember when gazing longingly at those $300 shoes that will make us beautiful and desirable. ( Um, not that I’ve ever done that.. )

Losing Face, oil on canvas, 35.5x44

Stripped, oil on canvas, 30x58

The way she uses fragments of images to create the whole could be an interpretation of the illusionary aspects of fashion advertising and photography. The images we see are the composition of designers, photographers, photo editors, art directors, etc. They represent an idealized portrayal of only one aspect of our being.

Looking Glass ( triptych ), oil on canvas, 60x54

To see more of Amanda Clyne’s work, please visit her website and Facebook page. If any of you Canadians out there are in Toronto, be sure to check out her latest show opening December 8th at p|m Gallery.

Featured image is Mirror, Mirror ( diptych ), oil on canvas, 72×36. All images are via the artist’s website.